A Little Sister
by truthrowan
Summary: Most people think Ginny is Bill's favorite because she's the only girl. The truth is, she's his favorite because of what she meant to their mother.


Some people thought Ginny was Bill's favorite because he'd helped look after her as a baby. Some thought it was because she was so charming and sweet, even if she was a spitfire, and that being the only girl she was special in her oldest brothers eyes. The truth was, Ginny was Bill's favorite because after she was born, he finally felt like his mother really loved her sons.

Bill had watched his mother for years looking at flowered, flowing dresses and balls of pink yarn, seen the look on her face as they passed other women with daughters as she managed her procession of boys, and without being able to put words to it, he knew she was dissatisfied. He knew that, somehow, something was missing for her. When Bill first realized his mothers longing for a daughter, that for some reason numerous sons just weren't enough, He had felt a deep anger and resentment. Not that Molly Weasley didn't love her sons, but even as a young boy Bill had noticed the look of sadness on her face and not understood, but after the twins, and then Ron were born, and he saw his mothers' quiet desperation, he'd began to grow angry. What was so special about a girl that his mother would wish away his brothers?

While a casual observer would notice no difference in Molly's care of her younger sons, to Bill it seemed she let the twins play unsupervised too often, that she let Ron cry just a second too long, and that while he held a special place as oldest, and she loved how Charlie looked just like a Prewett, or how bookish and smart Percy was, there were times when she lacked enthusiasm for his brothers and himself.

He had tried to discuss it with his father once, but Arthur had just smiled, "Your mother loves you all Bill, but it is hard taking care of six boys at once. Sometimes she feels out numbered." Bill, who was about 9 at the time, watched as his father tried to find the right way to explain. "There are some things a father can only do with sons, there's a special connection that boys only understand with other boys. It's the same way for your mum, and without a girl, there's no one to have that bond with. It doesn't mean she doesn't love you all, it just means she is lonely sometimes."

Bill had tried to understand this, he really did, but even as an advanced 10 year old, he just couldn't quite get it. In the end all he saw was how Charlie tried to keep watch over the twins when their mother wasn't paying close enough attention, or how Percy would let Ron crawl along behind him, or sit down to read whatever book had his attention near where Ron was playing. And he watched over the lot of them, whenever Molly's attention would falter, whenever it seemed she just didn't care as much about what the boys were up to as she should.

Ron was barely out of the bassinet when Molly was pregnant again. He saw how tired, and yet happy his mother was, and followed their fathers cautions that they should be especially helpful. But heading to the loo late one night and hearing his mother talking to his father, "Maybe it'll finally be a girl" almost sent him over the edge. And the next day, when Ron was trying to walk and she didn't even notice, made his blood boil. He swore, up and down, that they would boycott if the baby was a girl, and pulled his brothers into a boys meeting to make them agree.

The months passed, and he watched as his mother grew rounder and rounder. He loved her, as all boys love a kind and uncruel mother, but every time he saw her pause to look at some girly bit of clothing, every time he caught her too busy day dreaming to notice Ron trying to walk, or the twins latest mischief, every chance to praise and compliment Percy's intelligence or caution Charlie's daring that she missed, he just wanted to yell. Why were he and his brothers not enough?

Finally, the time came, and Aunt Muriel came to watch the boys while their father and mother went to Saint Mungos. It was only a few hours later when their father burst out of the fireplace, his face bursting with a grin to announce, "It's a girl!" before he scooped up Percy and started dancing him around. He finally calmed down and asked after Ron and the twins, who were already down for the night, he began arranging the older boys. "It'll just be a quick visit, but I thought you'd like to see your new sister!"

Wary, but wondering what all the fuss was about, Bill helped Charlie find his shoes and Percy get his coat before they headed off, while his father hurriedly whispered to Aunt Muriel, promising they wouldn't be gone long. Bill shrugged on his coat and wished again his birthday wasn't in November, so he would already be eleven and could be at school instead of going to see his mother and sister.

The hospital was hushed and quiet, and having never been to the maternity floor, (Only the emergency department, when Charlie had fallen out of a tree and broken his arm) Bill didn't quite know what to expect. From several rooms they heard babies crying, people talking, and even one very loud snore. The whole place seemed to buzz with a sort of repressed exultation.

As they approached one door their father turned to them and said, "Now, you're mother is going to be very tired and sore, so when you hug her, please be gentle. Remember not to grab or squeeze at the baby." He paused for a breath, "She's been asking for me to bring you almost from the minute the baby was born, so don't be surprised if she squeezes the stuffing out of you. Now, let's go in, and remember to be quiet not to startle the baby." Arthur turned and knocked softly on the door before opening it and entering.

Bill followed behind his father, wondering what was to come, one of Percy's hands clasped firmly in his while Charlie held the other. As they cleared the door they saw their mother sitting up in the bed, her face flushed and smiling, a small bundle wrapped in the pink blanket their mother had knitted held against her chest. She looked up at them and her smile brightened.

"Come here, come in. Come meet your baby sister!" She called softly, one hand waving them towards her. She turned the bundle in her arms as the boys came around the side of the bed and slowly approached.

To Percy, who'd been too young to be impressed when Ron was born, she was the first baby he really remembered seeing. Her chubby cheeks were centered on a small mouth that reminded him of the roses his mother liked so much when he picked them, and her hair was closer to his own auburn than the twins garish orange. She wriggled a little in her blankets, and a tiny hand peeked between the folds. All in all he was quite impressed with how tidy and inquisitive she seemed.

"She's so tiny" Charlie whispered, taking a finger to brush hers.

"Tiniest of the lot" His mother confirmed, looking at the baby before grinning at him "Especially compared to her big brothers. The twins were even a little bit larger than her each, though I'm glad she wasn't as big as Ron." Her eyes crinkled at him as her grin deepened, and Charlie couldn't help thinking that his mother had never been prettier.

Bill stood behind his brothers, trying to take in the scene, trying to figure something out, when his mother spoke. "I missed you this evening you know. All I could think was, "We've got to get this baby out so I can get home to my boys soon!" She looked at her three eldest sons, her gaze coming to rest on Bill as she spoke, "I want to thank you for looking after your little brothers tonight, and being so helpful and responsible these last few months. I know it hasn't been easy, but you've really shown what big, wonderful boys you are." She reached up to hold Arthurs' hand that was on her shoulder. "Your father and I are so proud of you all." She beamed at her eldest three sons, and Bill was struck by the fact that she had not smiled at them like that in a very long time. Impossible as it seemed, his mother seemed more truly focused on her sons now than she had in quite a while, though Bill could not believe it. It must just be that this was the first time she'd been away from them since Ron was born, and before that since the twins birth or Uncles' Gideon and Fabians burials, though that was very long ago.

"Do you want to see the new baby?" His mother asked him, smiling. Hesitantly, Bill stepped forward as his mother sat further up and presented his baby sister to him.

"Bill, I'd like you to meet your baby sister, Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley" His mother said. "We'll call her Ginny for short." Slowly he took the baby into his arms. While he'd had plenty of practice, he couldn't remember ever holding a baby so small, and watched in awe as baby Ginny yawned in his arms, blinking open hazy visioned eyes of the dark blue most babies had at birth. He wanted to love her, he really did, but part of him still rebelled. What was so special about her over him and his brothers, after all? Why did SHE matter so much more to their mother than the rest of them?

"Percy, dear, why don't you sit on the bed here beside me. What did you boys do with Aunt Muriel this evening?" His mother asked, reaching out her arms to help him onto the bed. It was strange; it was almost as if now that his mother wasn't waiting for a daughter anymore, she had remembered to care about her sons, to focus on them.

The visit was kept brief, and as their father had warned she "squeezed the stuffing" near out of all three boys. It was in hushed tones, and to a snoring Aunt Muriel sitting in the arm chair by the fire that they returned to the Burrow.

By the time their mother came home with the baby a few days later, Bill was back to reserving judgment. He observed carefully how his mother treated the boys, her attention to them compared to the new baby, and whether or not she was more or less involved than before. And slowly it occurred to him that his mother was more involved with him and his brothers now than she'd ever been before, even with a newborn baby in a sling across her chest. It was as if a distraction had been taken away, and suddenly his mother was able to focus and see the boys clearly for the first time in a long, long time.

When Ron finally mastered his first steps, it was his mother who noticed and called everyone in to watch and clap for the proud, chubby toddler as he made his way towards the kitchen and to the counter where the cookie jar was kept. And when Ron fell down upon his diapered bottom and began to cry, it was their mother, not Bill or Percy or Charlie, who scooped him up and cuddled him on her hip, despite the sleeping baby she held in her other arm, and who got them all a cookie to celebrate.

When the twins did something to cause the toilet to start lobbing purple balls of something gooey out of its mouth and into the hallway, it was his mother, not Charlie or Bill or Percy, who got them out of the way to safety, though it would have been her anyway who cleaned up the mess. Afterwards she sat the twins down and told them how naughty they were, and talked to them about not playing with the toilet, though she did agree that it "was a really pretty purple" whatever the mess, (none of them wanted to identify) had been.

When Percy completed all of his homework for the month early, their mother noticed and praised him, and when Charlie fell off a broom and sprained his wrist his mother was out into the field and slowing his fall with her wand faster than Bill had ever seen, probably preventing a worse injury. And wherever, and whenever, Bill was doing something he wasn't supposed to, or helped out with one of his younger brothers, his mother was there to praise him, to hug him or cuddle him or to scold him, as the occasion warranted.

It was near Christmas, the night they decorated the tree in fact, when his mother had left baby Ginny laying in her bassinet while she supervised the older boys at making and decorating cookies. Normally the baby stayed strapped to her chest in a magical sling that reduced the weight and pull, but Mol did not want to wake her with all the rowdy boys or risk injuring her during the cooking.

Bill had gone up to the bathroom and was on his way back down when he heard a soft noise from his parents bedroom, where the baby was supposed to be sleeping. Peeking in, he saw a little fist thrashing about wildly and could tell she was kicking from the way the bassinet moved. Slowly he walked over and looked down at his baby sister, who looked back at him curiously. In the months since she'd been born, he'd maintained his distance, and his judgment, still not sure whether or not the changes in his mother were real, still not sure how to feel about his sister.

Standing there, watching her, he realized that having a girl had, somehow completed his mother. He didn't understand the how, or why, because he knew other women who were perfectly content with whatever children life brought them, or none at all, but for his mother there had been a pull, a yearning, for a daughter that had only eased with Ginny's birth. Staring at her, auburn hair fluffy around her head and fists waving, he felt the anger and resentment ease in his chest, to be replaced with something else. Leaning down and gently picking her up, he cuddled her against him, and gently kissed her baby head, her hair tickling his nose. "Thank you" he told her gently, swaying as he held her against him, then looking down to meet her gaze. "I don't know why, but Mum's been happier since you, and it made her better with all of us." He kissed her again, "Thank you Ginny, I love you little sister." He told her, before heading down the stairs.

"Hey, Mum, look who woke up and wanted to join the fun!" He called as he entered the kitchen. His mother turned around and beamed at the sight of her oldest son finally holding his baby sister, and bustled over. "Well then, why don't we let her watch her first Christmas cookie party. I think she's just big enough to sit in the high chair. Bill, why don't you pop her in and then decorate some more cookies? I made sure your brothers left you some out of this batch to ice." Bill smiled and did as he told, and if his angel cookie had red hair, and was gifted to his sister who quickly crumpled and gnawed on it, Molly Weasley was too happy basking in time well spent with her brood to care.

Authors Note:

Before my third pregnancy, I did not feel this way at all, and was very happy with my two boys though I wished for a daughter, someday, among the four children my husband and I planned to have. It was during my third pregnancy, when my household consisted of myself, my husband, our two boys, my husbands two college aged brothers, two male dogs, and a cat that was supposed to be female but turned out to be male, (they swore it was a girl when they gifted him to me), plus whatever friends they had visiting or staying over for the weekend, that my home began to resemble a frat house and I became overwhelmed with the feeling of being vastly outnumbered. I remember praying and crying that this pregnancy please be a daughter, because I was so lonely in my own house, for someone, anyone, who would like pink and purple and understand the joy of pretty things and a nicely kept house would be welcome. While I was not neglectful of my boys in any way, despite working two full time jobs and going to college, I wasn't always as fully engaged as I should have been. For Molly Weasley, like my grandmother who had 8 boys before finally getting and stopping with a girl, I imagine it may have been much worse.

After my daughter's birth when many comments were made of, "So you finally got a girl, guess you will stop now" that my resentment of people grew, as if my second son was an accident or would not have been born if we had had a daughter first, as if all of our children were not planned and wanted. There is a negative backlash against perceived "large families" that as one of 10 children, 5 of us full siblings, makes a person feel very much resented in the world. I admit that for a while I overcompensated with our second son, worried he would feel as unwanted as the rude people commenting seemed to think he was, but after the birth of our final son that and the comments eased. As mother to three sons, one daughter, and briefly a teenage girl whom we fostered and tried to adopt, and who ultimately elected to reunite with her birth family, some of the comments we have received have been downright rude and nasty, right up there with something a Malfoy would say. To those who feel the need to judge "big families" and anyone who looks down on the Weasleys, or on Molly and Arthur for going until they had a girl, I have two words to say: Bugger Off.


End file.
